Dobbs Says He Now Backs Amnesty

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 12:08 PM

By: Dan Weil

In a little-noticed interview last week, Lou Dobbs announced that he now supports amnesty for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States

Since he left his job as a CNN commentator two weeks ago, Dobbs’ has been bandied about as a Senate candidate in New Jersey. And now he is indicating that he might run for president.

But Dobbs became famous for his strong views on illegal immigration and foreign trade. Now that he’s a would-be politician, those views appear to be softening. Dobbs told Spanish-language network Telemundo he now supports a plan to legalize millions of undocumented workers, a stance he long lambasted as an unfair "amnesty."

"Whatever you have thought of me in the past, I can tell you right now that I am one of your greatest friends and I mean for us to work together," he said in a live interview with Telemundo's Maria Celeste. "I hope that will begin with Maria and me and Telemundo and other media organizations and others in this national debate that we should turn into a solution rather than a continuing debate and factional contest."

Dobbs twice mentioned a possible legalization plan for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., saying at one point that "we need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions."

On Monday, Dobbs appeared on former Sen. Fred Thompson’s radio show. When asked by the former presidential candidate if he was urged to consider running for president himself and was indeed weighing a bid, Dobbs replied, “Yes is the answer.â€